Janja Garnbret is no stranger to success. The 27-year-old Slovenian is arguably the greatest competition climber of all time. She has won 49 gold medals on the World Cup circuit, the most elite level of competition.
While Garnbret has never been a slouch in outdoor climbing (she’s sent V15 and 5.14d, after all), her competition dominance has always outshone her achievements on real rock. That is, until now.
On June 8, Garnbret announced that she sent Bibliographie (5.15c), becoming the first woman and only sixth person to send the iconic route — long considered one of the world’s most difficult.
Garnbret’s Outdoor Ethos
Since bursting onto the international scene in 2016, Garnbret has absolutely dominated the competition. She’s a two-time Olympic gold medalist, and once won nine World Cup golds in a row in bouldering.
Since the 2024 Paris Olympics, Garnbret has taken a bit of a step back from comp climbing, participating in just a few events, rather than the entire series, as was typical for her. She devoted more time to outdoor climbing projects and found success.
In 2024, she sent the sit start of Bügeleisen (V15), marking her first ascent of the benchmark grade. In 2025, she followed it up with another V15, with her send of the ultra-classic boulder Dreamtime.
Garnbret also achieved a high level in sport climbing, sending multiple 5.14ds. Many in the climbing community expected that she would soon add a 5.15 to her tick list. With so much success in every other arena of climbing, a 5.15 — the pinnacle of difficulty in sport climbing — was within her reach.
Bibliographie
And of course, she jumped straight from a 5.14d to 5.15c. According to a press release from Red Bull, Garnbret sent Bibliographie on June 6. The grade of 5.15c is only one notch below the hardest grade in the world (5.15d).
This route, located in the popular French climbing area Céüse, is 115 feet long. It earns its 5.15c grade through its demanding length, severe overhanging angle, and minuscule, barely usable holds.
The crag is at an elevation of over 6,000 feet, and conditions here can be challenging and unpredictable. Many of the world’s best climbers, including Stefano Ghisolfi and Jakob Schubert, have tried and failed to tick the route.
With her send, Garnbret became only the sixth person ever to send the route — and the only woman. With this ascent, she’s also the second woman to send 5.15c after Brooke Raboutou, and the third woman, after Raboutou and Michaela Kiersch, to climb both V15 and 5.15.
Garnbret said that Bibliographie required a different kind of mindset.
“I’m a very impatient person. I want everything now. Probably because I’m a perfectionist, a high achiever — I want to achieve and achieve and achieve,” she said in a press release. “But this experience taught me that patience really is the most important thing. You can train hard all you want, you can do everything right, but it’s still not guaranteed that you will succeed.”
“It definitely helped me become a better athlete and a better climber — especially in terms of patience,” she said. “And this route taught me that with a calm mind and with patience, anything can happen. Never count yourself out until the very last try, you need to fight hard. And this is something that will stay with me forever.”
Ironically, Garnbret managed to send the route on an attempt that was just supposed to be her warm-up. She stepped off the ground, started to climb, and reached a flow state — that much-desired but rarely achieved kind of climbing where everything feels second-nature.
Even after such a landmark moment, Garnbret isn’t relaxing any time soon. The rest of the World Cup season awaits, and the L.A. 2028 Olympics aren’t far off. And after she soaks in this victory, she’ll be on the hunt for a new outdoor goal.
“Now I want to enjoy this moment,” she says. “Then I’ll look for a new project — something that lights a fire in me like Bibliographie did.”
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